


after the war

by theriveroflight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Implied Relationships, Not Canon Compliant, Summer Rose (RWBY) Lives, Volume 8 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:59:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28513041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: Summer is stranded for thirteen years.STRQ week days 6+7: Out of Hell/Happy Ending
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Lie Ren & Yang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen & Raven Branwen & Summer Rose & Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen & Robyn Hill, Ruby Rose & Summer Rose
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	after the war

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like these prompts went together well.
> 
> Anyways, I wrote this all today - I might have a problem, haha. But it was fun, and I really got to solidify my characterization of Summer further because this is entirely from her perspective.
> 
> Anyways, a disclaimer that most of this is not canon/speculation.

Summer Rose blinks awake with only half her vision. Okay, so she was unconscious for an undetermined amount of time. From the craggy landscape around her, she’s still in Evernight. Half-blind, somehow — one of her eyes either isn’t there or isn’t working right. She’s got most of the possessions she had on her earlier, except her weapon.

But first…most of her body hurts. She slowly sits up, and sees a large gash on her leg that seems to only have  _ just  _ stopped bleeding. There are also a few smaller scrapes, and she hopes that there’s some kind of mercy that will save her from infection.

She unfastens her cloak. It’s still chilly, but she thinks she’s recovered enough Aura to survive it if she uses some of her cloak as bandaging. A lot of it is dirty, but she manages to rip out some of the cleanest parts, and bandages her wounds carefully. Anything to keep them shielded from the open air — especially  _ here,  _ where there’s some Grimm goop that could have serious consequences.

And then the severity of what she’s done comes back to her. She’s faced Salem, and made it out mostly alive. Oh, certainly not  _ unharmed,  _ but at the very least alive. Living enough to stumble her way to the main continent. Alive.

She wonders if Salem knows she made it out. Came back to life in time to know that Summer Rose had pushed her way out of the castle. 

Summer tried to  _ stop  _ her. It didn’t work. And if it were up to her she would never think about Salem again.

Well, she’s alone now. There’s no one to police her, and she  _ has  _ always been a leader, so perhaps that means it is up to her now. She doubts that anyone would think that she’s still alive. She might have been with Raven (perched in the rafters, she hopes hopes hopes Salem didn’t see Raven, didn’t  _ try,  _ because she knows how easy it is to fall into the darkness, she  _ knows  _ that Raven was the last to promise, the most hesitant, she never wanted this and Summer  _ knows  _ that it makes Raven an easy target) but she doubts Raven saw…the moment of mercy.

Salem and her lieutenants are not often known for their mercy, but somehow one of them took pity on her and allowed her to live. Their loss. But perhaps they hoped that Summer would stop pressing on. She won’t.

Raven probably already took off. She could try and find the airship, but Summer can’t pilot anyway, and having come this far just to crash in the ocean would be…underwhelming, almost. After so much, she refuses to let that take her out.

So she’s stranded here for now.

So everyone that could rescue her thinks she’s dead.

But she  _ has  _ to get back to them. Raven, Taiyang, Qrow — some of the people she loves most. Ruby and Yang, her daughters. She owes it to them to live, to return.

There are so many reasons to get up and keep going and find a way out of this godforsaken place. So she grabs one of the rocks embedded in the ground, and uses it to rise to her feet.

It hurts to stand, a bit, but that’s the wound on her leg talking. Now to figure out where she’s going, how to get out.

* * *

Years pass. She sifts through piles of ashes to find the remnants of her weapon, just the metal blade. But that’s enough, really. She thinks it’s been somewhere around five years. Some of the lieutenants are starting to get old, starting to doubt. And with two of their numbers missing, they are starting to doubt. She knows that Salem dislikes doubt. So she does her best to persuade them to run, leaving little signs where she can.

She dyed the tattered cloak brown with dirt a long time ago. She might have washed her clothes since (salt from the ocean constantly coats her body, but she can’t risk tainting what little fresh water she has in  _ bathing)  _ but not the cloak. That needs to be  _ brown,  _ not white, and it lets her blend in more.

But, as always, there are more waiting in the wings. More people who hate Ozpin or believe that destroying the world is the only way to save it or abused people desperate for someone to give them a way out from their abuse only to find themselves with someone far, far worse.

Summer hurts for them, even stuck in the eternal cruelty of Evernight. They remind her a bit of Qrow and Raven, of how they resented so much when they first entered Beacon, but they found the right people and got out of it. Raven…lets her fear control her, really — that’s why. Summer managed to persuade her into a last stand, but really that was probably the last time Raven would ever manage to face her fear.

Summer tries not to resent her too much for that, though. She’s stuck in a land of fear, after all, and if she falls to it then all is lost.

* * *

This is it. She’s been listening to their plans, and she thinks it’s been going on a decade by now — Yang would be at an Academy, if she sought to be a Huntress, and Ruby must be pretty close herself… 

No time to think about that.

But when she hears that they plan to infiltrate and cause Beacon’s destruction at the Vytal Tournament, well, she still can’t sit back and  _ let  _ that happen. But she won’t get herself caught, either.

There’s so much of Evernight she hasn’t explored. On one hand, Salem’s castle and the pools of darkness are in no way  _ safe  _ but they are in some ways  _ familiar  _ and Summer knows that the familiarity is what keeps her in this area, despite the risk of discovery, despite the constant possibility of her death.

And besides — she can’t just stand by and let Beacon fall.

She tries her best to sabotage it — she cuts off their electricity a few times, but there’s backups, and they always manage to fix it (that scorpion Faunus is surprisingly handy, with the help of the one she  _ knows  _ is in charge of the tech). So really she’s just causing it to stall a little further. But the more stalling, the better it is.

And when they begin to suspect that there is interference with the electricity, well, she backs away from those ideas.

But what else can she do to prevent magic itself?

* * *

The Fall Maiden and her two assistants return, informing Salem of their success — and their failure, as well.

Summer listens. Summer hears. And she plans.

* * *

Everyone is gearing up for Atlas. And she knows that this would be the perfect time to sneak out, among the chaos of the preparations. If she lays low in the whale, no one will know…

And she can sabotage them from within.

* * *

The whale is dark, and open, and most of all  _ smelly.  _ She hopes that Salem doesn’t sense her presence somehow. Her magic could be capable of anything.

When they stop for a longer period of time, she tries to forage her way out of the intestines towards somewhere, anywhere else.

She manages to slip out of a fold, and oh  _ crap  _ she’s falling, falling, falling…

She unfastens her cloak, extending it to use as a parachute. There isn’t much wind right now, but the storm Salem has brought with her is screwing it up. Still, the tears in it means that she’s drifting down further than up, and she’ll come to a safe landing.

She drifts onto the tundra and rebundles, shivering. Solitas is cold — she hasn’t been in a long time. And she needs to find someone,  _ anyone  _ that could help while she’s here.

And then she spots the river of the same black liquid that she’s been trying to avoid.

Well, there needs to be something done about that. Her gaze tracks where it’s headed — towards Mantle.

There are plenty of people there, and the Huntress still within Summer would never miss the opportunity to help others. She hasn’t been able to in ages.

It’s…not that far. She survived years upon years in Evernight — a few miles to get to Mantle shouldn’t be too much more.

She walks, uncertain, but not afraid.

When she arrives in Mantle, the streets are empty save for Grimm. Where was the light coming from, then?

She walks on instinct, navigating the gridded streets blind. Her hearing has improved immensely since half her vision was taken away — she can’t  _ see  _ on that side, but she’s gotten better at listening, and that helps guide her towards the sounds of people, harried and spread thin.

When she arrives at the crater, someone welcomes her in, not asking for a name.

“I thought everyone was already evacuated.”

“I just got here,” she responds, the words feeling like gravel on her tongue. She hasn’t had to speak in so long — talking to herself was a risk, and it isn’t like she had anyone to talk  _ to. _

“I thought, you know, with everything going on that no one could get here,” the person replies. “What’s your real story?”

“Mission gone wrong. Was stranded in the tundra. Managed to stagger my way back here.” The lie comes to her easily; there aren’t many who would believe what  _ truly  _ happened to her.

She wonders if Qrow and Tai and Raven are still alive. She wonders if the Fall Maiden, in her quest for vengeance, has managed to kill her daughter.

And most of all she wonders exactly how much she has missed of all of their growth.

“You’re a Huntress?”

“Used to be,” Summer answers. “Not quite sure if I count anymore.”

“Got a license?”

“Scroll broke. Haven’t been able to obtain a new one.”

She does show off her reassembled weapon, made of the old metal and bone. “I’m Summer. Fill me in on what’s going on?”

“There’s this being named Salem who’s come to attack us. But she’s just been…waiting. The Happy Huntresses have helped us all come here, along with some kids. Atlas doesn’t care about us anymore. They’ve sealed themselves away.”

“I saw,” Summer says.

“Here, you sound terrible, have some soup.” She takes a drink, and she feels better almost immediately — it’s richer pickings than she’s had in years, she knows she must be emaciated by now. “What’s your name?”

“Summer,” she answers.

“Well, it’s good to meet you, Summer. I’ll go see if we have a place for you anywhere.”

“I don’t necessarily need someplace to stay. I just want to at least get cleaned up.”

“I’ll walk you to what we’ve got for a bathhouse, then, and we can launder your clothes while you clean up.”

“That would be amazing.”

So many years…just for this.

“Who were those kids you mentioned?”

The stranger shrugs. “Don’t know. Two blondes, someone dark-haired, and a kid. I’m sure one of the Huntresses could tell you, but they’re all busy, especially since they’re down two at the moment.”

And then she catches a glimpse of someone’s Scroll.

WANTED: DETAIN ON SIGHT

Both  _ Yang Xiao Long  _ and  _ Ruby Rose  _ are listed.

What happened?

“Oh, yeah, the kids are fugitives, but the only reason they are is because they stuck it to Ironwood.”

James…what had befallen him, too?

“Good for them,” she comments. She was never as close as Qrow was to him — and if he’s responsible for the disparity here, then she is  _ all for  _ her children saying no to that.

And she takes off her clothes, wrapping herself in a towel before going into the bath. It’s just a tub of warm water and some soap, but it still feels good to clean herself somewhat properly.

When she comes out, her cloak is light tan instead of muddy brown, and her clothes look cleaner, and she just  _ feels  _ a little better.

She gets dressed and tries to make the best of the world she’s been transported to. She should probably try to speak with one of the Happy Huntresses, but she understands that they’re probably busy and don’t want to entertain an ex-Huntress (or something; her license has probably expired by now) who’s supposed to be dead.

“You said you were a Huntress?” someone asks.

“It’s been awhile since I really did anything like that, but I used to. My license has probably expired at this point.”

“But you still have the skills, right?”

“I’ve been keeping up where I can,” she answers.

“We’d be glad to have you on board, if you want to temporarily help us. Most of the Huntsmen are in the army, up there dying for the elite.”

“I’m not from Atlas,” Summer says, “I’ve never played by their rules.”

“My name is Fiona Thyme, and for now I’m in charge. I’m one of the Happy Huntresses.”

“Summer. I’m supposedly dead, but I lived anyway. I heard that two of your teammates were gone — what happened?”

“Our leader is in jail in Atlas. And her 2IC is also…how do I say this? She went to Atlas with some of the kids. They wanted to get a message out. They succeeded.”

Summer tries not to do too much with that information. “Okay. Where do you need me?”

* * *

She manages to obtain a Scroll and view that message. Someone texts it to her.

_ “My name is Ruby Rose. I’m a Huntress.” _ Summer is hit with the strangest wave of grief — a kind of mourning that she never got to know her child while she was growing up. She just replays that over and over — Ruby has grown so much, her gaze filled with determination as the message…well, it certainly is a call to action.

She learns that “the leader in jail” is Robyn Hill, and she got arrested with someone else — nobody tells her who, exactly, but she gets out that it was a guy that also had a bird name.

She doesn’t know whether it would be better or worse if it were Qrow.

And one day, a rift opens behind her. The familiar feeling of Raven’s Semblance oscillates in the air.

Some people she doesn’t know (but she recognizes vaguely that they were on the wanted list) come through, followed by…one of the Fall Maiden’s lackeys, a dog Faunus wearing an Atlas uniform modified slightly, Yang, Taiyang, and Raven come through.

“I- what?” Yang asks, and her voice sounds so different, so much younger than Summer used to know.

Taiyang and Raven just…

“I didn’t know where it would bring me if I tried,” Raven says, “but I needed to get them out, and I know Qrow got arrested, so that would be no good.”

“Raven,” Summer says, “I…”

She’s dreamt of what it would be like to reunite with her teammates. She’s dreamt about berating Raven, about collapsing into their embrace and never getting out again, about so many other things in between.

“Where have you been?” Taiyang asks.

“I was left on Evernight,” she explains. “I’ve been there for most of the past years. I don’t know how long it’s been, but certainly long enough for them to have grown up quite a bit.”

“It’s been thirteen years,” Raven says. “And I never thought to come back to you. I thought it would just take me to your body, and I didn’t want to see. I didn’t want to know. I could have saved you.”

“But you didn’t,” Summer answers. “And I thought about what I would do if I ever saw you again. Sometimes I yelled at you. Sometimes I just cried. Sometimes there was just hugging — thirteen years is a long time to go without anyone.”

“We know,” Yang says, and she gives Summer a quick hug and Yang has grown so much since she was six… “But we need to get moving and get to Ruby and the rest of them. Blowing up the whale was only the start. And it won’t be long.”

“I want to stay here and help,” the (ex?)soldier says. “I think I would serve best here. If they’ll have me.”

“I’ve been working with the other Huntresses.” Summer holds out her reforged weapon, almost as if to prove that. “They’re looking for anyone that might be able to help. I’m sure if you prove yourself you’ll get yourself a place helping out around here. Everyone is very strained.”

“And Qrow’s still in jail,” Taiyang remarks.

Summer’s gears are already turning with a plan. “Everyone who defected — it doesn’t matter from where — will be staying here to help out if they want.”

“I want to apologize to Ruby,” a green-haired girl says, shifting on her feet. “I’ve…done a lot.”

The pink-haired girl glares at her for that and signs something that doesn’t look very nice.

“So green-hair will go with Yang’s team.”

“It’s…Emerald, actually.”

“Emerald will go with Yang’s team. Do the rest of you want to stay here?”

Pink-hair shrugs. The large man nods.

“Yang’s team is going to Ruby.”

“How are we getting there?” one of them asks — black hair. “We can’t exactly fly.”

She looks over at Raven. “Well, we  _ are  _ all going to Atlas…”

“No,” Raven says, but her hand is already on the hilt of her sword. “I’m not breaking out my brother.”

“Then what else are we doing? We have no way to get home,” Taiyang points out.

“I can take you five to Ruby,” Raven declares, “but I’m  _ not  _ going to get my brother. He probably could break himself out if he really wanted.”

“It’s what needs to be done still,” Summer insists. She recognizes that there’s a little bit of bias there.

“Hey, there’s also a Grimm river headed here,” a blonde boy points out.

“I told them,” Summer says. “They’re…placing their bets and starting to prepare to flee, if need be.”

“Okay,” he answers. “You’re…Ruby’s mom, yeah?”

She takes a deep breath. “I am, for whatever that title’s worth now.”

“It’s good to meet you.”

They enact their plan, transporting Yang and the other four to Ruby first (who’s hiding in the Schnee manor for some reason, according to Raven) — and then the jailbreak.

* * *

The reunion between her and Qrow is messy, because it also involves breaking out of an Atlas military facility, but with everything going on it’s surprisingly easy, especially since Raven, Tai, and herself all have weapons that are able to hit the right places on the poles and take down the hard light shields.

“Who are you three?”

The woman next to Qrow — must be the Robyn that the other Huntresses described.

“They’re my team,” Qrow answers. “You can trust them.”

“Okay.”

And…five is an odd number, but they manage to make it to where the weapons are stored, too.

A team stops them along the way.

“Winter,” Qrow says, “you don’t want to fight me again.”

This…Winter looks  _ scared,  _ most of all, her arms in some kind of support brace. She looks to the side.

“Oh, but I sure want to fight  _ you,”  _ one of them snarls.

“Come with us,” Summer says. “You can leave. You don’t have to stay.”

“I don’t know who you are,” another speaks up, “but we’re going to have to take you back to those cells.”

Summer doesn’t want to fight them.

Winter hesitates. “Let them go,” she orders.

“Thank you,” Robyn says, seeming surprised by that kindness.

Summer generally believes that people can be good, if given the chance. But some people choose otherwise, again and again, and eventually those choices will be their demise.

“Harriet, stop!” one of them says, and the person (Harriet) turns back towards her team.

“No,” she says, and charges towards them. But the fight is over quickly, and the remaining three look on in horror.

“I…”

Raven opens her portal. “In,” she says, and they stumble through to end up at the Schnee mansion again, where Ruby and Yang both are.

* * *

Their family is reunited. She lets Ruby take the lead, because they all seem to defer to her leadership (and it’s heartbreaking, how much Ruby has had to shoulder burdens that she shouldn’t be bearing).

She does speak with Ruby, though, who says that she’s fine. When Summer offers her advice…well, Ruby doesn’t really need it, but she still tells Ruby to talk about things, to let her team support her too.

Ruby shakes her head at that. “They all have their burdens. How can I thrust mine on them, too?”

“You share,” Summer answers.

It’s awkward, but Summer hopes they all can heal.

The Fall Maiden comes for them, but they defend the manor. There are larger battles being fought out in the streets of Atlas, Summer knows, but she’s still trying her best not to break after everything. They’ve all come to some kind of silent agreement — they’ve screwed everything up enough to just let the kids take the lead on most of it.

And in the end, they manage to get a few more added to their numbers — and take away some of Salem’s power in the process. There are still Grimm roaming around Atlas, and it has shaken down into the crater to crush the river, but…for now, they are safe.

“Let’s go home,” Taiyang says.

“I should…stay with the kids,” Qrow says.

“They’ve proven themselves,” Summer argues. “I think we all need to rest, after all this.”

“We’re going to Vacuo,” Ruby says. “There are a lot of Beacon students who went there, after everything. I think, even if Ironwood did give us our licenses before everything happened, it’ll still be good to learn, and communicate with them after all this time. And I don’t know what we’ll do with the Relics, but…”

“Are you going to summon them?” Qrow asks.

“We’re going to unite humanity again,” Ruby says. “We’re not going to get destroyed, and then…well, the gods did cause all this mess.”

Summer smiles. “Attagirl.”

“Mom, I…”

Summer hugs her. “I know, sweetie. I know. And I’m so, so proud of you for everything you’ve done. I wish I could have been here. But I’m lucky enough to be with you now.”

“And now I’m leaving,” Ruby answers.

“You need to figure yourself out,” Summer says. “And that’s difficult, but I think you can do it.”

“Really?”

“Go,” she answers. “Talk to your friends again. We’ll always be here.”

“And…I think we’re going to stay in Atlas,” Jaune confesses. “Ren, Nora, and I. And maybe Oscar, if he wants to.”

“I think it’s due time I met Theodore,” Oscar says. “It can’t be worse than the other two, can it?”

“Don’t ask that question,” Nora says. “Because then it will be.”

“It’s been…amazing, to get to travel with you. But our next steps are here, helping the others rebuild after everything.” Ren is in the middle, holding both of their hands.

“And Penny is coming with us, too,” Ruby says. “We’ll be okay.”

The war is perhaps not quite over. They all know that Salem will rise again. But the battle has been won, and for now that is enough.

Team STRQ heads back to Patch, and they all relax to some degree — but they all have duties in this world, too. Even with their happy-ending-for-now, there’s still work to be done. Beacon Academy’s wreckage is slowly clearing of Grimm, as she’s been informed, and Raven’s the leader of the tribe now.

Summer’s still trying to catch up, but she lived on the continent of Grimm for so long — how much more difficult can surviving here be?

After all, she’s not alone anymore, and she’ll never have to be alone again.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on my writing Tumblr @beunforgotten for content, when I remember to post. Here's to more fic in 2021!


End file.
